Five Years' Time
by kalabangsilver
Summary: Jo, watching Harry and Ruth on the Grid. Fluffy AU nonsense.


_A/N – Unadulterated fluffy AU nonsense, with a Jo POV. Please enjoy._

_Silver_

_._

_Five Years' Time_

.

They were standing next to the pods and Harry was going off somewhere. Jo, trawling through a seemingly endless list of suspect profiles at her desk, did now know where. If she had to guess, she would go for some political thing. Harry was wearing one of his better suits. Ruth was shifting anxiously at his side.

Jo just wished they would just get it over with, already; run off into the sunset together, get married, buy a cottage in Sussex. Alternatively, she wished they would just initiate a passionate love affair. Whatever they did would be an improvement on what they were doing now. It had been cripplingly painful to watch. Ever since Ruth came back, the pair had been dancing around each other like heartbroken teenagers.

Jo just wished that one of them would make some move towards the other. She was almost positive Harry would ask Ruth on another date, if Ruth just gave some indication that she might want to. Jo was almost positive, too, that Ruth would accept. Despite the circumstances under which she returned, Jo knew the analyst had already forgiven Harry. Love made that possible, and Jo was _absolutely_ positive they were in love.

Sometimes, she pitied them for it. Love, anywhere, was never easy, but love on the Grid was ten times as difficult. Jo learned that the hard way. They got snatched away – any colleague that she let in – they all, eventually, got snatched away. Zaf, Adam, Ben; she had loved them all differently and all had been taken from her. Watching Ruth and Harry, Jo wondered when it their turn would come. Too soon, she expected. Still, she hoped it would be far enough away for them to get their act together. Even if it was for just a day, or an hour, or a minute, deciding to have a life together could save their scarred souls. Jo hoped against all hope that they would have that chance, to make up, before the end.

As she continued to watch them, a smile crept onto her lips, quite unrelated to her morbid thoughts on mortality.

Harry had a smudge of pen on his cheek and Ruth was pointing it out, clearly trying to be helpful without actually touching him. Like any interaction between the two, it was fraught with tension. They were talking in undertones and Jo, curious by nature and profession, decided to make her way a little closer, to hear what they were saying. Nonchalantly, she stood and wandered over to the water cooler. Helping herself to a cup of water, she turned half-away from her boss and his favourite analyst, keeping her ear turned in their direction to better hear the conversation.

Eavesdropping should not be so easy in MI5 headquarters, but the two spooks in question were absolutely absorbed in one another. They probably had no idea Jo was even in the room. Ruth was still trying to explain the location of the pen mark.

"Up a little, to the left,"

"Yes?"

"No," Jo heard Ruth give a rare, soft laugh.

A pause, then;

"Got it?"

"Almost."

"Now?"

"Uh, yes, it's fine," Ruth eventually relented. Glancing up, Jo could still see the faint smudge of pen on Harry's cheek. "You can't see it anymore." Ruth lied.

Harry lowered his hand from his cheek and the pair continued to stand, facing each other, awkwardly. Jo sipped her water, listening carefully while pretending to read a case report she had carried with her, as a prop. She was careful to let her eyes drift across the paper, as if she were really reading. In the unlikely event that they looked away from each other, she did not want Harry or Ruth to realise she was watching them.

A moment passed before either of the spooks spoke again. As usual, it was Ruth who initiated conversation.

"You'll call her afterwards, won't you?" Jo heard her say, to Harry.

"I will." Harry reassured her.

"She'll want to know you were there, you know. You're their father, it's-,"

"-I will, Ruth."

"Okay."

Deciding it might be obvious if she stood there for any longer, Jo wandered back over to her station, pausing on the way to pick up a blank sheet of paper from the photocopier. Arriving back at her desk, Jo shuffled some papers as Ruth and Harry shuffled their feet. Post slightly-domestic conversation, they looked even more awkward than usual.

Jo watched them around the edge of her computer screen. They already acted married. Why hadn't Harry popped the question already, she wondered. Fear? Perhaps that was the reason. Jo certainly saw it in his eyes, when he was talking to Ruth. He was terrified of losing her and refused to make any moves which, he thought, might drive her away. At the same time – from an outside, unbiased perspective – Jo could see that Ruth needed some pressure. If left to her own devices, the analyst would be dancing around Harry forever.

"Ros said she was taking you." Ruth told him, quietly.

Harry smiled.

"Plan changed, I'm heading over myself. Much as I'd love the backup, I think it would be more awkward to be discovered lurking at my son's graduation with a colleague, than lurking on my own."

Ruth smiled and looked down.

Harry shoved his hands in his coat pockets. That soft expression, which Jo only ever saw him wear around Ruth, was back in place. Their voices dropped slightly, beyond what Jo could hear and then the pair of them laughed gently. Harry touched Ruth's arm, as he said something else. Ruth explained something, holding onto his gaze far longer than was appropriate for just-colleagues – or even just-friends. Jo crossed her fingers under the table.

The Grid around them was quiet. Lucas was at home, sleeping off a mission that had gone slightly awry. Tariq and two other junior officers were discussing the benefits of some new tracking equipment over in the corner. If Harry were to push Ruth a little, now, Jo thought, she might just be relaxed enough to say yes. Ask her to dinner, Jo thought, trying to send the message by telepathy, to Harry. Ask her for coffee, or a film, or something. Marriage proposal might be a little too forward, she added – then smiled to herself, at her ridiculous behaviour.

There wasn't a chance in hell that Harry would ask any of those things. He was far too terrified of losing her. That said, as Jo glanced up again, she noticed that they had moved to stand a little closer.

"I'll call later, if that's okay," Ruth was saying, a little nervously. "To see how it went."

"I'd like that."

Jo held her breath, then Harry's voice again;

"Ruth..?"

There was an expectant edge to it, a way he left the pause which implied that something important was coming. Jo found herself holding her breath, frozen in place. Perhaps she had been wrong. Perhaps he was brave enough.

"Yes, Harry?" Ruth, a little breathless.

Another pregnant pause.

"I was just wondering..." Harry began.

Jo chanced a look up. He was using that tone – that one he used when he wanted something. Like the soft-eyed look, he only ever used it around Ruth. When he asked the rest of them for something, it was always voiced as a command, not a request.

Harry took what Jo assumed to be a steadying breath.

"Would you like to-,"

And then Ros walked in.

Jo nearly face-planted across the desk.

Ros was brilliant at many things. She was braver than any man Jo knew and stronger than any woman Jo had ever met. She could kill a man with her bare hands, jump through a window, shooting two guns, and take out a four-man terrorist cell in complete darkness, but queen of tact she was not. Striding through the pod doors, she did an about-turn to face Ruth and Harry, a frown growing across her forehead.

"Date night, is it?" she asked, bluntly.

Jo saw Harry frown and Ruth's cheeks turn scarlet.

"The suit," Ros explained, ignoring her colleague's reaction. "You rarely dress to impress, I was just wondering if you were off to that fundraiser the Home Sec is running tonight."

"Ah," Harry looked vaguely relieved. "No, I managed to escape that one. It's the graduation I told you about, my son, Graham."

"Oh yes." Ros looked as if she had dismissed the information about his son as soon as Harry had told her he no longer needed her attendance. Jo wondered if everything was an operation, in Ros's mind. "I remember, now."

"I'm off to lurk at the back of the hall, where neither he nor his mother will see me." Harry continued, and then shifted awkwardly, perhaps aware that he had shared more than he had intended to do. He did that, when caught off-guard.

Ros looked indifferent.

"Sounds riveting." She glanced between Ruth and Harry, then folded her arms. "So, will you be back for this meeting at seven, or am I flying solo?"

"I should be back. If I'm not, I have full faith in your abilities," he paused, then glanced sideways at Ruth, "but take Ruth along with you, just in case. She has more experience with the peculiarities of GHCQ. You're free, aren't you, Ruth?" he asked, as an afterthought.

Jo saw Ruth nod vigorously. Of course she was free, of course it was all right; Jo suspected she would have agreed to trek to a midnight meeting, on the moon, if Harry had asked her nicely.

"Excellent." Harry pulled on his gloves.

Jo saw Ros frown.

"Harry?"

"Hm?"

"You've got something on your cheek. Pen, I think."

Harry touched his cheek, glancing over at Ruth, who looked mortified to be caught out in her lie. Rubbing his cheek, he asked Ros;

"Gone?"

Rolling her eyes, Ros stepped forwards, licked her thumb and used it to clean the smudge away. The whole thing was done without preamble or fuss. Ruth stared down at the floor looking, if possible, even more scandalised. Harry looked like a teenage boy, embarrassed on front of his date, by a clueless mother or older sister. Ros hadn't seemed to notice their discomfort. Or, if she had, she was enjoying it too much to stop. She took a good half-minute, before drawing back, and nodding curtly.

"There you go."

"Thank you," Harry mumbled, a little darkly.

"You're welcome." She told him, voice emotionlessly and then added. "Enjoy your son's graduation." Then, turning smartly on her heel, she strode off towards her desk on the far side of the room.

Jo was left, biting her lip, as Ruth and Harry slowly turned to one another.

"You are a dreadful liar, Evershed." Harry told Ruth, quietly. There was no malice in the statement, however. His eyes were sparkling.

"I couldn't see it!" Ruth insisted.

Harry narrowed his eyes.

"Hmm."

There was a pause then, clearly desperate to move the conversation on, Ruth lifted her eyes back to Harry's and asked;

"What was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh," Harry shrugged and blustered a little. "It's nothing. It'll keep."

More awkward shifting followed.

Jo sat back in her chair, cursing Ros and another opportunity missed for Harry and Ruth. On the other side of the room, at her desk, Ros had picked up the phone and was now arguing with some unfortunate soul – who, Jo suspected, did not know what he was letting himself in for, by disagreeing with Ros. Jo's attention was drawn back from her blonde colleague by Ruth's voice.

"You know, I've quite grown to like Ros, Harry." She said, her voice quiet and almost cool. "Her directness can be rather refreshing."

Jo cringed, behind her computer screen as the most awkward silence yet filled the space around them. Oh for god's sake, Harry, thought the young spook. Say something, do something – anything! Kiss her, tell her you've loved her for the past five years and you can't wait any longer. Literally anything would be better than standing there, looking completely lost.

Unfortunately, Jo's thoughts were not loud enough to instigate actions in Harry.

"I should go." He said, quietly.

"Of course," Ruth looked down.

"Okay."

Harry turned towards the pod doors and Jo saw Ruth's face fall into disappointment. With a heavy sigh, she turned her attention back to her computer screen, bringing up the file database she had been working on, before Harry and Ruth had walked in. It seemed all the tension in her colleague's conversation had, once more, yielded nothing. Harry was walking away, again.

With a sigh, Ruth turned and began to make her way back across towards her desk. She had barely taken five steps, however, when the pod doors swished again and Harry's footsteps reappeared, on the Grid floor.

"Ruth?" he called out her name.

The analyst turned on the spot, as if magnetised by her name, from his lips. She stepped quickly back towards him and they met, just on front of the water cooler. Harry still looked terrified and Ruth more than a little breathless, but their eyes were not as lost this time.

"What I was going to say, earlier," Harry began, his words fast, as if he were having to force them out before he lost nerve, "was would you like to have dinner, sometime?"

Ruth stared for a moment.

Jo held her breath, staring pointedly at the same spot on her computer screen. Every inch of her was dying to look up, but she knew she couldn't. This was a precarious moment. If she upset it, by revealing her eavesdropping, it might take them _another_ five years to get here again. She didn't think Harry could handle that. She didn't know if they'd both be alive in five years time.

Come on, Ruth...

After the longest ten seconds of Jo's (and, most probably, Harry's) lives, the analyst replied.

"How about a drink instead?" she asked, quietly. "Tonight, after you get back. You should be celebrating, after all."

Jo chanced a look up.

Harry was nodding, apparently struck dumb by his audacity and her acceptance.

"Okay, then." Ruth nodded, decisively. "I'll see you around seven." And, with that, she turned on her heel and strode off, leaving Harry to stare after her.

He stared for a good five seconds.

Jo beamed.

Perhaps it was this movement of her face, or, perhaps, it was just some extra-sensory power that Jo did not know about; whichever it was, something drew Harry's attention. Frowning, her boss swung his eyes over in Jo's direction. Their gazes met above the computer screen and Jo felt her eyes widen slightly. Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Miss Portman," he nodded to her.

"Harry," she squeaked back, then cleared her throat.

Then, the most peculiar thing happened. Instead of rebuking her for being a nosy git, or firing her on the spot, Harry smiled pleasantly. Quite at a loss for anything to do, Jo smiled nervously back.

"That report," he nodded towards her computer, "on my desk before seven."

Then, giving her a completely unexpected wink, he turned and marched off towards the pods. Jo watched him go, resolving never to eavesdrop on her boss again – at, at least, to be more careful not to get caught, next time. Happy, smiling, winking Harry was more terrifying than angry Harry. He freaked her out. Giving a little shake of her head, she turned back to her computer screen and started to run names through databases. She had only just settled into task, when Ros appeared, like a wraith, at her left elbow.

"Evening."

"Ros!" Jo jumped a little, and then turned to look up at her colleague. "Bloody hell, you shouldn't sneak up on people like that. What can I do for you?"

"Tell me that was something positive," Ros drawled, in her characteristically bored voice.

Jo knew her well enough, now, not to be fooled. Ros was as interested in the Harry/Ruth dynamic as she was – albeit, probably not for the same sentimental reasons. As Section chief, Ros spent more time with Harry than anyone else on the team. It was in her best interests that he was happy and his relationship with Ruth played a big part in that.

Jo shrugged.

"Positive, I think."

"Thank god." Ros sighed heavily. "There is only so much spit that can pass between colleagues before it gets complicated. Next time's covered in pen she," Ros inclined her head in Ruth's direction, "can clean him up."

Jo smothered a giggle. It wasn't the time or place to be giggling with Ros. After what had just happened, Ruth would be on high alert for anyone whispering in corners. Picking up a file, Jo pretended to be discussing it. It did not take Ros long to catch on. She leant in closer, looking at the file.

"Listen, I think we should keep quiet about them, for a while." Jo started, carefully, pointing at the blank folder to disguise the nature of their conversation. "The last time, we rather put our foot in it, Malcolm especially. He felt terrible afterwards, of course, but the damage was done. Ruth's a little..." she searched for a word, "a little shy when it comes to Harry."

"I hadn't noticed." Ros said dryly.

"Please, Ros." Jo fixed her colleague with an imploring look. "They deserve some time, don't they?"

For a minute, she thought Ros might be about to scoff at her sentimentality, but eventually, the older spook just shrugged.

"Okay. I'll be careful not to spook the spook." Standing back up, she took the empty sheet of paper that Jo had been pretending to talk about, folding it and placing it in her pocket.

Jo smiled, gratefully.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"It's not for you. The sexual tension in this place is getting unbearable. I'd do almost anything to get Harry laid."

Jo winced at that mental image. It was Harry and Ruth, for God's sake. They were her surrogate Grid parents. As happy as she was, to see them starting to grow closer together, the idea of Harry getting off was really not one she wanted hanging around her head. Ros, who was somewhere between Ruth and Harry in age, did not seem quite so perturbed. Then again, nothing really seemed to perturb Ros.

"I'm glad he's going to the graduation." Ros added, pensively, catching Jo quite off-guard. "I thought, when he called to cancel my offer of backup, that he had decided against it. The experience will be good for him, I think, bonding and all that."

"Um, yes..." Jo cleared her throat, not quite sure how to respond, to Ros showing human emotion.

Luckily, it did not last for long.

"I'll see you tomorrow. You can head home as soon as you're finished your background check tasks. It doesn't make sense to keep you, Tariq and Ruth on, when nothing's happening." Ice queen demeanour back in place, Ros stood. "Go get some rest." And, with that, she walked away.

Jo went back to work with a smile on her face. She was glad that her surrogate Grid parents were back on dating terms. She was even gladder that she had Ros on side, in keeping them that way. She was, after all, the sort of woman you wanted in your corner.

Glancing across the Grid floor, Jo caught sight of Ruth smiling into her paperwork. A happy sigh built up within her and Jo sat back against her chair. Harry and Ruth were going on a date, there were no open terror threats and Ros was allowing her to go home early for the night. In short, a very successful evening. Unable to quell the happy hum that sprung up in her throat, Jo turned back to her database and began to type.

It only took a few minutes, to finish up her background check and clear the suspect for another round of vetting. After cleaning up her station, Jo gathered her things and sauntered over to Ruth's desk. The analyst looked up as she drew near, giving her a small smile.

"Off home?"

"Yeah, you?"

Jo looked down, at the umpteen files arranged across it. Ruth must have had a system for organising her millions of notes. Jo could tell that it involved post-its and rubber bands, but she couldn't really be more precise on the method. Ruth's desk always looked like a complete mess. You couldn't really knock her for it, though. She always knew exactly where things were and she was far better at her job than any of the analysts the Service had employed during her absence.

"I have to stay a bit later," Ruth answered her question, with just a hint of a secret smile, in her eyes.

"Paperwork?"

"It's a curse."

"You should ask Harry for a secretary," Jo joked.

"Harry thinks I _am_ a secretary." Ruth joked back.

Jo laughed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ruth." She smiled, tucking her phone back inside her pocket and turning, to head back towards the pods.

"One thing, Jo?"

"Hmm?" Jo turned back. Ruth was busily marking up one of her files. "Yes?"

"Next time you're eavesdropping on me, can you try to look a little less smug?" Ruth asked, quietly. "I don't think Tariq and Ros had any idea what was going on, until they saw your face. I'm not angry," she added, quickly, "and I don't mind the team knowing, but I just would like to keep this between friends, for now."

Jo felt as if she had been placed under a very bright spotlight. The skin across her cheeks felt suddenly hot.

"Ruth, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-,"

"It's okay," Ruth gave her a soft smile, which reassured her that there were no hard feelings. "We aren't trying to hide anything from you, but it's personal... and more than a little delicate." She added, with a hint of a blush.

Jo moved back towards Ruth's station, lowering her voice as she replied, so that the rest of the Grid could not overhear them.

"Ruth, I'm sorry and I will keep my nose out, in the future. You're right. This is private and I had no right." Jo assured her, feeling a little guilty and a lot foolish, for being caught in the act of spying on her colleagues. It had been a bit of a stupid thing to try, really. Harry and Ruth had been in this game for a lot longer than her. She was still a spook novice.

"Jo," Ruth motioned for Jo to sit on the spare few inches of desk, beside her paperwork.

Jo sat.

"It's okay and you don't need to apologise. I understand." Her blue eyes were nervous, but her voice was sure. "In this place, we're all a little closer than normal colleagues. We're like family, because we have to be," Ruth told her, with a shy smile. "And that means that he's your Harry too. He belongs to the whole team, every bit as much as we belong to him. It's right that you care."

Suddenly, Jo became aware that Ruth and Harry were more than what she had seen on the Grid. It was like that revelation, which comes to everyone as they grow up; that their parents are actually people, with emotions and memories and desires all of their own. They have conversations that their children do not hear. They share secrets that their children do not know.

"I'm grateful that you care." Ruth admitted, softly. "And I know Harry's grateful too, though you'd have to put a gun to his head, to get him to admit it."

If she had not been so sincere, Jo would have felt guilty of intruding. There was such warmth in the analyst's eyes as she talked about their boss. Clutching her bag and coat to her chest, the young officer regarded Ruth for a second longer. Ruth, discussing Harry, out in the open – this was an untold occurrence. She really wanted to say something, but was not sure how Ruth would react. Eventually, thinking that tonight seemed to be a night for saying things that one normally could not, she decided to take the chance.

"I'm really happy for you, you know." She admitted. "And I hope this works out, for both your sakes. God knows you've had enough sadness in your lives. I hope you're happy, together."

The blush returned and Ruth busied herself in shuffling papers. As always, the mess on her desk seemed to come together by magic, forming a neat and orderly pile beneath her fingertips. Despite her show of embarrassment, however, her lips had curled up into a half-smile.

"It's just dinner, Jo." She said gently, trying to hide her pleasure behind soft words. "We'll see what happens."

"Okay." Jo lifted her coat from where it was slung, over one arm, and shrugged herself into it, tying the sash tight around her waist. "Well, I'll restrain myself from picking out china patterns, then."

Ruth turned pinker and shook her head, but her smile widened.

"Please do restrain yourself."

Jo laughed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ruth." Then, smiling, she headed back towards the pod doors.

Ruth waved her off.

Climbing into the pods, Jo found herself grinning widely. Ruth and Harry, on a date; the thought filled her with undue amounts of happiness. Heaving a heavy sigh, she waited until the doors swished and opened, then made her solitary way downstairs, towards the exit of the building.

All around her, Thames House was emptying for the night. Analysts, officers and various members of staff and management all moved in concert, their general direction taking them either towards the great front archway of the building or towards the entrances to the underground car park. Choosing to walk for a while, rather than get a bus, Jo reached the front doors, passed through security, and turned left along the street.

London spread out before her in a beautiful array of light. Feeling more optimistic than she had in weeks, she set off into it, pondering love in all its strangeness. Something about tonight had filled her with hope. If two people like Ruth and Harry could find one another again, after all they had been through, then maybe – just maybe – the world was not as dire as Jo had thought. Maybe a battered but not quite broken spook could find happiness, somewhere.

Encouraged by this line of thinking, she set her feet to the pavement and walked. In five years' time, she might not be around. But, for now, the night was young and so was she.

For now, she was going to live.

.


End file.
